GEORGIA –A sign posted on the door of a gym in the East Atlanta Village has many seeing red after a local military veteran saw the sign and sent a photo of it to Atlanta’s 11Alive News.

The EAV Barbell Club has a rule about who is allowed inside – police officers and military members are not welcome.

The vulgar sign on the door of the gym read, “RULES: Do whatever the xxxx you want, correctly, except crossfit cultism. No xxxxxx cops.”

The owner of the EAV Barbell Club, Jim Chambers, is not backing down from his ‘no cop” rule. In an interview with 11Alive News, he said, “We wanted one space that’s just a little different. It’s not an aggressive, hetero jock space that’s dominated by cops and soldiers – it’s a place where you’re safe from that. We don’t want to make police stronger so they can hurt people more efficiently. It’s not a personal thing – if you put a uniform on, quite honestly. I view that as an occupying enemy army when you put that uniform on,” he said.

Many of the gym’s patrons are minorities who don’t want to be around cops and military members, Chambers said.

Chambers claims he’s had the same “no cops” policy since his business opened, but has removed the sign from the door. However, he promises to put a similar sign back up, minus the curse words.

Lawyers told reporters that since officers and military members are not part of a “protected status,” the man’s policy likely can’t be labeled as a form of discrimination.

Atlanta police said if there is an emergency at the facility, the sign would still not stop them from responding and doing their job.

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